Riga Angus' top bull heads to client of 30 years, also disperses spring herd
Pictures by Petra Oates
Riga Angus stud sold bulls and its spring-calving cow herd into five states at the 10th annual on-property sale at Mansfield on Wednesday.
The sale saw 23 of the 42 bulls offered sold for an average of $6673 and a top price of $12,500.
Following the bull sale, the stud also dispersed its spring-calving cow herd due to succession planning complications and tough seasonal conditions.
A total of 74 cows sold from the 82 cows offered for an average of $4460 and a top price of $10,500, hit twice for Lots 59 and 60.
The top-priced bull sold for $12,500 to Wade Mercienca, Barwite, who said the bulls stood out for his phenotype and figures.
"He's nice and fleshy and has the figures to go with it," Mr Mercienca said.
"He'll do our heifer job well too."
The Lot 4 sale-topper was a yearling bull that had Estimated Breeding Value (EBV) figures in the top 7, 5 and 6 per cent of the breed for his 200, 400, and 600-day weight, respectively.
He also had a birth weight figure of +5.0 kilograms.
The Mercienca family has been buying from Riga Angus for over 30 years and bought privately before Riga began its on-property auctions.
The helmsman-style sale had a reserve price of $5000 for the bull catalogue and a $3000 reserve for the females.
The bulls sold to clients locally in north-east Victoria and in Gippsland, as well as into South Australia and NSW, while the cows sold into Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, NSW, and Queensland.
The top-end of the bull catalogue was a very consistent line-up in terms of quality.
Lot 1 and Lot 11 both sold for an equal second top price of $11,000, with Lot 13 not too far behind, knocked down for $10,500.
Lot 1 was snatched up by the Parson family who run a commercial Angus herd at Maindample.
Nutrien agent Jamie Beckingsale, Mansfield, was at the sale buying for the Parson family, who are long-time clients of over 30 years and were the under-bidder for the top-priced Lot 4 bull.
"They were looking for moderate bulls without too much birth weight," Mr Beckingsale said of his clients.
"They were looking for growth figures as well as marbling," he said.
Riga Angus stud co-principals Vera Finger and her son Tim said they were very pleased with both the bull and female sale given how tough the seasonal conditions have been.
"I think it's a very positive result considering we didn't know how the sale would go coming into it," Mr Finger said.
"It was difficult to judge because everyone has been doing it tough.
"Our line of yearling bulls is becoming a lot more even, so there were a lot of people chasing those bulls today."
